Music notation has existed in various forms for thousands of years. Modern music notation systems use one or more staves and written symbols in order to designate the playing notes on an instrument. Pitch is represented vertically on the staff, with higher pitches placed higher on the staff on or in between staff lines. Time, meanwhile, is represented horizontally on the musical staff, with left-to-right representing its passage. A staff typically features a clef that indicates the particular range of pitches encompassed by the staff. Key signatures are also placed at the beginning of a staff and serve to designate the key of the piece by specifying certain notes to be held flat or sharp throughout the piece, unless otherwise indicated. Within this framework, throughout the musical staff appear the notes that are played by the instrumentalist. The notes' location on the staff (relative to a given line or lines) indicates the notes' pitch. The shape of the note and its flag indicate the length of the note and duration between two notes. Chords, or multiple notes played at the same time, are designated by notes placed vertically over one another. Also, special symbols are provided for rests of various lengths.
Among other things, the complexity of this conventional music notation system has confounded students for years. It can be difficult to learn and equally challenging to teach. As a result, students often give up a pursuit of mastering an instrument, based on their frustration with this complicated system for reading and presenting music. Similar challenges confront composers who find it difficult to work within this system.
A number of systems have been developed to improve and simplify musical notation, but none has successfully disclosed a functioning music notation system that has substantially improved upon the current conventional system, while simultaneously greatly simplifying music pedagogy. In order to address this and other issues, there remains a long felt need in the art for a simplified music notation system that greatly simplifies music pedagogy such that novice students may quickly and easily begin reading music.